Applications are invited for a 3-year PhD studentship to work in the area of high pressure physics and crystal structure prediction.

The PhD position is in collaboration with the Institute of Molecular Science and Technologies of the CNR (Milan, Italy) and with the Center for Materials Crystallography (Aarhus, Denmark). The partnership involves the theory group led by Dr. Davide Ceresoli and Dr. Carlo Gatti, and collaboration with experimental groups of the CMC (http://cmc.chem.au.dk).

The student will be working in a collaborative environment where experiments and theory will be combined to understand and predict materials structure at high pressure. Several visits and a few months stay in Aarhus will be an essential part of the project. Participation to experiments at world-class synchrotron facilities are also possible.

Specifically, this project will investigate the structural and electronic properties (transport, topological, chemical bonding) of crystalline materials as a function of pressure, or synthesized at high pressures. Crystal Structure Prediction searches (with USPEX or similar packages), will be performed to help the interpretation of experimental data.

The applicants should have a university degree in physics, chemistry, materials science or equivalent. The selection will take place in May 2017, and the start date is October 1st, 2017.

Interested applicants should send their CV, a letter of motivation, and the names and contact details of at least one academic referee,
to Davide Ceresoli ([email protected]). The closing date for this position is April 30, 2017.